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KINGSTON — From April 19 to 20, residents of western St. Thomas will be able to exchange their high-energy consuming incandescent bulbs for low-energy fluorescent lamps, as the final phase of the Cuba-Jamaica Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Project moves to that section of the parish. The distribution exercise has been underway in the parish since Friday April 15, with residents...

KINGSTON — The Government has allocated sums amounting to $857 million for technology upgrading in ministries and revenue agencies this fiscal year. The provision is made in the 2011/12 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Of the total, of $700 million has been earmarked for two computerisation projects under the Tax Administration department. Half of the sum...

KINGSTON-Work towards the introduction of natural gas to reduce Jamaica's energy costs and improve the country's competitiveness is at an advanced stage, said Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen. The Governor-General, who was delivering the Throne Speech to open the new Parliamentary year in Gordon House this morning (April 14), informed that Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for...

KINGSTON — The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) website is the most popular Government website, with page views amounting to more than 550,000 per month. According to internal analytics tool, Google Analytics, the achievement of 550,000 views represents a major increase over the last few months. With the increased views, the newly revamped JIS website is now the 17th most visited...

As of Thursday April 14 the ad valorem tax on fuel will be reduced from 15% to 10%.  This will result in lowering of petrol prices at the pump of between $4 and $5 per litre. This temporary measure is to cushion the impact of rising oil prices on the world market on local consumers, and will be reviewed on...

KINGSTON — Jamaicans are turning out in large numbers to exchange high energy consuming incandescent light bulbs for energy saving fluorescent bulbs, in the final phase of the Cuba-Jamaica Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) Project, commonly called the Cuban light bulb programme. The project was restarted on March 26 in North West St. Andrew, and has since covered over 30 communities....

KINGSTON — The draft Information and Communications Technologies Policy 2011 (ICT Policy) is expected to be tabled in the House of Representatives at its earliest sitting in the new legislative year. Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said Cabinet has approved the tabling of the document, which will establish a framework to enable the...

KINGSTON — The Government has partnered with telecommunications companies LIME and FLOW, for the provision of a high-speed island-wide broadband network that will benefit all Jamaicans, including those in the most remote areas of the country. Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, on April 6 signed the $543 million agreement with the service providers...

KINGSTON — The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce has partnered with the Scientific Research Council (SRC) and the University of Technology (UTech), for the development and commercialisation of local inventions and innovations. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Reginald Budhan, yesterday morning April 7, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at UTech’s Old Hope campus, under which the SRC has...

Government today April 6 signed a $543 million agreement with telecommunications companies LIME (Cable and Wireless) and FLOW (Columbus Communications) to build out a high-speed island-wide broadband network. The signing is a major step towards bringing affordable and consistently high quality Internet delivery to all secondary schools, post offices and public libraries in Jamaica. Under the terms of the agreement,...

Government is seeking the details of the business deal announced by telecommunications providers Oceanic (Claro) and Digicel so that the agencies regulating the telecommunications and commercial sectors can play their role in ensuring fairness and transparency. Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Daryl Vaz, made this disclosure in response to a question from a journalist at a...

KINGSTON – The Hope Institute is expected to save almost $821,375 per year as a result of the installation of a solar water heating system at the facility, located near the Elletson Flats community in St. Andrew. It is also expected to save another $337,000 per year or an estimated energy saving of 12,650 kilo watt hours with the installation...